Lead Me Home
by HaloHunter89
Summary: As winter settles in around the group Carol and Daryl push past what time didn't heal to be together. [Prompt]


_Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

 **This was written for a friend SophiaCharlotte. She asked for season three Caryl. I hope I gave you what you wanted in your prompt.  
**  
Eyes on the woods she waited. The sun was setting and she was getting anxious. He was supposed to be back by now. He was always back by now. With winter finally setting in the nights were getting colder. It'd looked like snow all day and she was starting to worry. The thought of Daryl and Merle trapped out there wasn't right. Not that either were really in danger. Between the two of them she knew that they would be safe.

"What're you out here doing?"

Carol looked over and smiled at Maggie. "You should be inside."

"So should you." Maggie laughed, "But really I figured you'd be inside since Daryl was already back."

Carol turned her head and looked back at Maggie. Maggie's eyes were knowing. Everyone knew that she waited on Daryl; at least kept watch for him to get back. Carol always greeted him. If he was back and she missed him then he didn't come in from the front.

"When did he get back?"

Maggie looked at the sky and then at her, "Well Glenn is ready to fight Merle so I think at least thirty minutes." Carol laughed out loud and Maggie grinned. "Go on inside. I think I seen him heading towards the showers or it might've been Merle."

Carol turned and pulled her jacket tighter to her chest. Her walk back to the prison was cold and the wind churned like a storm was coming. She could feel it in her bones and chest. It was going to be a bad one. She only hoped they were ready to wait it out if it was as bad as she thought it'd be. She would have to ask Daryl and Merle. They could read the weather easier than any of them.

"Was starting to think you were going to stand there all night."

Merle laughed holding the door for her. It clanged loudly behind her and she jerked from the sudden sound. He grinned at her and she smiled back. Everyone was weary of Merle. He was the big bad wolf come home but she seen through it. He was here for his brother first and foremost. It was the one thing saving Rick's life and everyone here knew it. If Daryl was to walk away then Merle would follow but not before putting a bullet in Rick. Merle was crass and only talked to his brother with any sense.

"Looking for Daryl?" Merle questioned shadowing her.

"You know I am." Carol quipped.

Merle hummed in his throat and followed her silently for the most part. Glenn was seething when they walked in the main room. He was staring right at Merle with rage in his eyes. Rick looked resigned and Hershel actually looked amused. She didn't see Daryl and frowned. Carol wasn't even going to ask what Merle done to get everyone so riled up. It only took a few words from him to have everyone up in arms. Daryl was the only one who could reign in his brother but Daryl was also quick to follow his brothers lead. It wasn't like it was before and she knew that. Daryl himself told her that but at the end of the day Merle was his blood. He'd always been there and she knew he always would be. She could respect that.

"If you're looking for my brother you won't find him around these panty stains."

Carol snorted and looked at him. "Where is he then?"

Merle pushed her in front of him. Carol huffed at him and he chuckled. "What's up with the two of you? I ask him something and he gives me this look and is quiet." Merle walked shoulder to shoulder to her then. She was eclipsed him his shadow and looked up at him, "Fucker was always quiet and never let anyone close. Hell even I'm at arms length but not you. He had a fire lit under his ass to get back after Woodbury."

Carol blushed but stayed quiet. What were her and Daryl? They were close. They'd been close since the farm. Since he'd lost his brother and she was the only one to tell him how sorry she was. She didn't believe just like he didn't that Merle was dead. Since that moment they'd started forging whatever they were now. It was something she would fight tooth and nail for. She didn't know his feelings because Daryl was closed off most of the time but she had a good feeling about them. She knew that if she was totally honest with herself that it was more than friendship. She loved him. No doubt in her mind for her feelings but it was telling him that where her hang up came.

Ed done more damage than just physical. The man talked down to her from the time she was twenty till the day he died. After so long you stop trusting your judgement and swallow everything down. It took sinking an ax into his head and shedding the weight that was that man to let her breathe her first breath since her marriage. Daryl cast a larger shadow than Ed could ever hope to. It wasn't a shadow that threatened pain and hurt but instead one that warmed her from the inside out. Just being near him was enough to have a smile lighting her face up and her teasing him. Something she would never dared before.

"I figured." Merle's voice was quiet. Carol looked up realizing she'd been quiet too long. "He's been hurt a lot. To much, Carol. Don't be another let down. Take care of my brother."

Carol's eyes widened and Merle pushed her through a door. She was hit with the wind immediately and shivered. Daryl was a few yards away and she trudged to him. His head snapped up the same time the door shut and he regarded her. She could see tension in his back and swallowed. He seemed upset. He seemed to be hiding.

"Something wrong?"

Carol shook her head at him and watched as him. He looked at her for a second before turning back to the buck he was butchering. At least he was almost done.

"I figured Merle would be helping."

Daryl snorted but shook his head, "He was supposed to be letting Hershel clean his shoulder and arm up. He got into barbed wire."

Carol sighed and shook her head, "He was in there but I'm not sure if he did."

She was amazed at how fast he was. It was years of muscle memory guiding his knife and mind. He didn't even seem to be thinking about what he was doing in the slightest.

Carol shivered again and he looked up at her from his crouch. He was almost done. He looked to his leather jacket and poncho. He gave her a pointed look and Carol smiled at him. She loved his jacket. It was just the right amount of broke in to be comfortable but not wore out. Between the smell of leather, Daryl, and smoke she could spend all day wrapped in it. His poncho was just as great. They both smelled like him. She could recall being wrapped in his arms over the winter with her own arms slid into his jacket around him. He was like a furnace.

"What's with the smile?" He was looking up at her cleaning blood from his hands.

Carol pulled his jacket on and shrugged, "Remember when Maggie walked out there to see what was taking Rick so long at the vehicles and caught him changing?"

"Yeah she almost walked up on me." He grimaced.

Standing up he arched his back groaning as it popped. He looked over at her suddenly and smiled. It wasn't a smirk. It wasn't just a slight raise of his lips. It was a full mouth smile exposing his teeth and she sucked in a breath. He looked up at the sky and blew out a breath it misting in the air rolling away like fog.

"We're going to get snow."

Carol grimaced and shook slightly at the thought of the cold. She longed for the nights sleeping on the cold hard earth wrapped around him tucked in the heat that was Daryl Dixon. The prison was cold. It was cold no matter what they done.

"I was going to ask you about that." Carol sighed, "We should try to prepare."

"I already talked to Rick, Glenn, Hershel and Merle. We're going to cut wood and try to get something worked out for heat."

Carol nodded and helped him wrap the meat. Just as they started to get ready to go in Glenn and Rick appeared. Both shoving Daryl back towards the prison. Carol watched as he huffed at them but he let her lead him away. Merle's words were running through her head and she knew she would. She'd died almost day waiting for this man before she'd ever met him. It took one look at him back at the quarry to let her know that he was it. She felt like she'd loved him all her life.

Daryl opened the door and Carol stepped in. They were in the dark and she gripped his wrist roughly. He grunted but look over leading her. Taking a chance she slid her hand from his wrist to his own hand. She didn't bat an eyes at the blood she knew was on his hand. Instead she tangled her fingers with his own linking them. He didn't miss a step but instead squeezed her hand and pulled her along with him.

Carol was starting to recognize where they were. He was leading them the long way around to the cell block. It'd been quicker to go the same way her and Merle did but he wasn't going that way at all. Instead he was going towards the back entrance and she was letting him lead her. Swallowing she stepped closer to him. He looked over his shoulder at her and she felt her heart jump at how dark his eyes seemed.

When they neared the cell block his finger came to his mouth and he shushed her. She nodded and he smiled again, that same smile she was starting to realize was just for her. He stepped in and still didn't let go. They were up the steps of the cell block quickly and Carol was pushed into the room Daryl took for his own. It wasn't a cell. Not really. There were two of these in the cell block. It was the size of at least three of the cells and came with a twin bed, desk, window, bathroom, and a actual door. Rick and Judith had the one downstairs and Daryl claimed this one before anyone else could with no one challenging him.

The door shut behind them and Carol shivered. It wasn't as cold as the rest of the prison surprisingly. He tossed his stuff on the desk emptying his pockets. She watched him eyes wide.

"What?" He questioned.

Carol shook her head but raised a brow, "Daryl what are you doing?"

"You're freezing. I can see you shivering from here even with my jacket and poncho." He said like it was the most obvious answer.

"It's winter." She deadpanned.

"And so it is." He chuckled.

Carol huffed and set on his bed. She fought sinking in the bed. It was better than the cell beds and she didn't even need a full night's sleep to tell. He'd amassed a nest of blankets apparently and she raised a brow at him. He arched his own and shed his vest before walking towards her. He started working his boot strings open and Carol felt her heart start beating more.

"You aren't crawling in my bed with your shoes on." He looked up at her as he kicked his boots off.

Carol looked at him but he grabbed his poncho and pulled it from her. His jacket followed and then her own. Carol didn't forget how close they'd gotten over the winter but finding the prison almost felt like it put a wedge between them. She was finding that he'd not forgotten though because he was staring right at her. Carol kicked her boots off and crawled up on the bed. He jerked the covers down and caused her go face first into the mattress,knocking her legs out from under her. He laughed and was in the bed behind her before she could complain.

That familiar heat and warmth wrapped around her. It was the first time she'd been warm since the cold set in. Carol pushed her feet up into his pants leg and he grunted jerking back. She chased his bare skin with her cold feet laughing lightly.

"Are you always this cold?" His voice was low and whispered just above her ear.

Carol nodded as his arm went around her dragging her into his chest. Burrowing into his body as close as she could get she let out a breath. She was fighting crying. If she started crying right now he'd think she was insane. She wasn't even sure why she so emotional. It wasn't like he'd done anything to hurt her or pulled away. No Daryl was still Daryl. But the simple act of him bringing her here because she was cold had her chest tightening and her breathing hitching.

Looking up at him as the last of the light disappeared she studied his face. He was relaxed his arm rest on this pillow and bicep. Her own head was just as much on his arm if not more. His breathing was stirring her hair and she had a sudden realization that this was the first time they'd been alone and slept this close. A shudder went through her and she felt heat like nothing ever before wrapped around her pooling low in her stomach.

Daryl's arm tightened around her feeling her body tremble. He shifted and she was pressed completely flush with him. Carol licked her lips and made a gamble with Merle's words the push she needed. Pressing her lips to his throat she felt him swallow thickly. The rough scrape of his unshaven skin against her lips making her thighs pressed together. Taking another gamble she slid her hand from his upper back and down. Catching the tail of his shirt she slid her hand underneath to the warm skin at the base of his spine.

She felt his breathing change. "Carol?"

Carol looked up at him blinking in the dark. He was staring down at her his nostrils flared and his eyes a clear warning. Sliding her hand around feeling more brazen than she ever had in her life she started working the buttons on his shirt open. This could go very wrong. She knew about his scars, she seen them, she'd cleaned his back up when he'd gotten hurt over the winter; but that didn't mean he wasn't still defensive. His breathing hitched as his shirt fell open and Carol leaned up. Her breath was hot against his mouth giving him the chance to pull away. To her surprise he closed the distance.

Winter was forgotten as the heat that boiled to life in her blood engulfed her. His hand came up tangling in her hair. Carol moaned the kiss growing more demanding. Before she knew it she was on her back with Daryl over her. She took the chance to shove the shirt from his shoulders and he let her. She didn't ask before her hands started mapping every inch of him. He groaned at the contact and she broke the kiss. Both breathing heavily.

"I want you." Carol whispered.

His head dropped to her shoulder but Carol was tearing her own shirt over head. He growled and suddenly her shirt was ripped down the front. His mouth burned a searing trail across her collar bones to her breast. Her bra stood no chance as he tore it away. His patience was gone and she gasped at the cold air against her skin. She could trace every panted breath, brush of his lips, and grasp of his hands as he touched her.

Carol was struggling to think as his mouth closed over her nipple. Back arching and eyes slamming shut she grabbed for his belt. She was relieved to find he'd stripped that off before getting into bed. His pants were wrenched open and he stalled out his eyes flying up to meet her own when her hand wrapped around him. Both watching the other as their chest heaved mirroring the other.

"I need you, Daryl. Now." Carol growled.

He raised up suddenly and she whined when she was forced to let go of him. She tried to calm her breathing but knew it was no use. He was already pulling her jeans and panties down her thighs. She'd never felt like this before. Never so desperate. Ed didn't inspire anything but revulsion. Even when things were good she'd never been like this.

The feeling of his rough hands sliding along her inner thighs had had eyes snapping open. He was watching her and smirked. It was devious and she swallowed. It wasn't a look she'd seen before on him. Merle sure but never Daryl.

Daryl was suddenly over her again but she huffed. He was clothed too much. HIs mouth crashed into hers. It was different this time. It was possessive and she could feel something building in him. She gasped against his mouth when suddenly he was stroking her. His thumb circling her clit as his finger pushed into her. He groaned into the kiss as she fought his jeans off his hips. Carol smiled into the kiss realizing he wasn't wearing underwear. It wasn't something she ever thought she would be thankful for but it was the small things in life.

His arm came up next to her head and he was settled between her thighs. She arched against him lining him up with where she wanted him. He pulled back his body flush with hers. She was able to feel each of his movements in the shift and ripple of his muscles against her own body. Despite the cold she felt almost feverish.

His own hand wrapped around hers on him and she panted. His grip tightened and she realized he was showing her what he liked. It was hard to focus though with his lips on her and his other hand on her breast. Spreading her legs more Carol nodded as he fell fully against her and she brought her thighs higher up along side his locking as he started push into her. He paused his breathing ragged. Carol swallowed. He was big, a lot bigger than Ed ever was.

Carol nodded at him ready to beg him to move. He shifted then and she gasped as he sunk into her with a sharp snap of his hips. His face pressed into her neck suddenly.

"Fuck."

Carol ran her hands from his shoulders down his back. His body was tense. Sliding her hands from his back to his ass she let her nails bite in dragging him into her more and locking her legs around him.

Kissing the side of face, "I'm not going to break Daryl." Her voice was raspy and sultry. Something she'd never heard before.

He raised up then looking down at her and she swallowed. Whatever reservations he'd had were gone. It was in his eyes. She could see the brother, the blood him and Merle shared. He leaned down his hand cupping the side of her face. Her eyes watered at the slight touch. Ed was never like this with her. This was so much more. It was everything.

His thumb rubbed her bottom lip and his forehead pressed into hers as his hips pulled away slower than she wanted. She bit her lip roughly when he thrust back into her just as slow. Each shift and movement of his pelvis against hers sent her flying higher. Unable to look away she felt her tears escape. He shifted then and brought his arm around her while going to his knees. Carol was suddenly in his lap.

Looking down at him she was met with worried eyes, "What's wrong? We can stop."

Carol shook her head and wrapped her arms around his neck. Matching his pace thrust for thrust. Carol picked up the pace pulling a groan from deep in his chest the same time she shoved him. He fell to his back. Knees on either side of him she took over completely. Daryl's jaw clenched and she smiled watching as he fought to not take control from her. It startled he that even now she could read him so easily.

His hand ran up her thigh stopping just over hip. Carol planted her hands on his chest the same time he pushed on her lower stomach. A startled cry tore from her and she looked at him. He smiled at her but didn't relent. His other hand went to around her hip and his grip on her ass was tight. He was dragging her into him now. Nails biting into his chest at the feeling. Her control was slipping and she could feel herself building towards her climax. Breathing hitching as his thrust drove up into her roughly as his hand on her ass pulled her into him even more.

The second she tipped over the edge she found herself on her back again with Daryl over. His pace was relentless as he pistoned into her. Each thrust jarring and prolonging her own orgasm. Hands hooking over his shoulders she held on as he loomed over her, completely flush bodies sliding together like they were made for the other.

He was talking low in her ear but sound of her pulse was muffling it. She struggled to get her breathing back to normal so she could hear him. Tightening her legs around his waist again when she felt him tense up she drug him closer to her. A deep groan,almost a growl rumbled from his chest straight into her own. Tension left his body as each jerk of his release rushed from him.

Carol wasn't sure how long they'd stayed locked in place. Neither willing to move. His breathing was even and no longer labored. He wasn't asleep. She'd been afraid things would be weird afterwards but he wasn't pulling away. It was the opposite really. He seemed to crave the connection just as much.

When he shifted and dropped down next to her she didn't even get a chance to move. He was on his stomach but his arm was around her and she was half drug into him and almost under him. He smiled into her shoulder.

Carol licked her lips trying to think of something to say. She didn't want to him to fall asleep before they could talk.

"Well you didn't exactly go down first but it worked out."

She felt his body jerk and his head raised from her where it was pressed into her neck. "Already had dinner."

Carol's face flooded red and she gaped. Looking at him sharply she was struck with the realization this was a Daryl no one else got. This was hers. Hers alone. He wasn't like this with anyone at all. Even for all her joking and closeness before he'd never so much as returned a quip. It was more of flustered looks and him huffing while fighting a smile.

"Carol quit." he yawned. "I'm not running. I came back here for you after I found Merle." His voice lowered and became rough.

"I love you. I have for awhile."

He pressed his face into her throat his lips grazing her ear, "Your mine and I'm yours."


End file.
